and while, thankfully, no one ever told me college was not for me, milton was the first environment i was ever in where college was a normal expectations. i applied to five colleges back then. when the letter arrived saying i was admitted to one i wanted, i called home with the news and my grandmother answered the phone. i'm going college, i'm going harvard. she started yelling and screaming, so excited and so proud. and then she paused and she asked, where is that anyway? [laughter] i was totally deflated. but gradually i came to realize that that it was not the press teeing my grandmother was excited about. it was the opportunity. it was the chance. that's all that mattered. that's what always matters. maybe especially here. for pilgrims seeking to worship freely, for slaves seeking freedom, for immigrants seeking a better way, for your mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers seeking a tow tow hold in the middle class. massachusetts has a lafned opportunity. everybody in this chamber gets that. in many, many encounters i've had over the last six years, with members of the le